


all i did was suffer (i was too afraid to say)

by astrangetypeofchemistry



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A hand of kindness, F/F, Mention of umbrella scene, Mirror of umbrella scene, Redemption, Romance, Sad Birthdays, Sarcastic commentary, Soft gay awakening, lilanette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 17:53:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19323148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrangetypeofchemistry/pseuds/astrangetypeofchemistry
Summary: a simple act of kindness is sometimes all it takes for a person to fall in love. just like it rang true for marinette, it rings true for lila.





	all i did was suffer (i was too afraid to say)

**Author's Note:**

> y'all already know

the thing is, they say that thunderstorms occur when the heavens are in trouble. there has to be sadness brewing, hearts shattering, and bonds breaking up in god’s utopia for there to be lightning forking the sky and heavy rain drenching the earth. 

naturally, of course, there’s a thunderstorm on lila’s birthday, because the universe is hell-bent on making her feel like absolute crap, and she’s sitting on the dupont steps, absolutely soaked in rain, as she waits for hawkmoth to realize she was upset and akumatize her again. 

because, like, what other way does she have left of improving her day at this point?

then again, because some cosmic force is just  _cracking up_ at lila’s misery, she looks up to find marinette dupain-cheng strolling down the sidewalk, umbrella in hand and eyebrow raised. because life hates her. and marinette seems to be smirking almost, like she caught lila in something and can't wait to rub it in her face. 

“what’re you doing here?” she asks, stopping a few feet away from lila, gleeful for some wild reason. lila wants to punch her. “shouldn’t you be in belize or the caribbeans for your birthday?”

lila gives her A Look, meant to convey hatred and disgust and something deeper that resembled sadness. “wow, class rep. i’m really glad you’re enjoying the fact that i’m miserable for my birthday. sure shows a lot of compassion.”

marinette sighs softly at that, glancing at the concrete steps before sitting down carefully. she averts her gaze as she apologizes, and lila’s eyes rest on the name carefully engraved in gold on the umbrella handle.

“is that  _adrien agreste’s umbrella?”_  she asks, incredulous, because how. the  _hell_. did marinette  _get that_  when she can’t even talk clearly in front of the guy.

“yeah,” marinette says, softly, and her eyes are watching the umbrella handle now too with some sort of affection. “he gave it to me right on these steps even though he thought i hated him. i guess...”

and she trails off her, lost in some sort of epiphany, leaving her sentence hanging and raising lila’s curiosity. “you guess what?”

marinette almost startles at that, like she’d forgotten lila was there or that they were talking, which like. makes sense because the one time lila cares about what marinette is saying, marinette wants to be absolutely awful and just randomly go quiet.

“i guess it was just important to him to offer a kindness, even if the person receiving it hated him.”

they’re watching each other closely now, and lila  _knows_  what marinette is saying, even as marinette is digesting it herself. she thinks she can see the war in her eyes, the question that she’s rattling through her head as she deliberates. and then she’s standing up, umbrella held carefully in her hand and lila thinks,  _oh_. 

_i guess i’m not important enough to receive the offer_.

but then marinette’s hand is outstretched, easy enough for lila to grab, and there’s a hesitant smile on her face. “it’s your birthday,” she says, soft and kind like they hadn’t just been butting heads two days ago. “let’s get you dried up so you can cut your cake.”

and somewhere, lila’s heart breaks. because. really. marinette is the only person not completely fed on lila’s lies. she’s the only person in all of paris who somehow manages to see the ugly truth of lila’s insecurities and manipulation. she  _knows_  how awful lila is, has been on the receiving end of her threats and bullying. 

but still, in this moment, she’s willing to push all of that away.

and deep in her heart, lila thinks something’s unlocked.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: @queerinette. join me in the loving lila cult discord (ask for a link, though)


End file.
